The Big 5-OH!

by Sandra D. Bricker

  “Of course not,” Hallie replied. “That's just the perk.”

  “You’re a nut.”

  “I’m not as nutty as you are, Miss Birthday Curse Believer.”

  “Well, I may be rethinking that whole curse thing.”

  “No!”

  “That's right. It's entirely possible that I am not a wretched, pitiful woman with a birthday cloud hanging over my head each and every year.”

  “I’m stunned.”

  “Imagine how I feel.”

  “So this year there was no crushing blow about which you’ll tell the sad tale for years to come?”

  “Honestly?”

  “Of course.”

  “There were some unexpected twists and turns, like Clayton's heart attack and a tree falling on Georgia Brown's car in your mother's driveway—”

  “What!?”

  “—but what I’ll remember from this birthday is a chocolate espresso birthday cake and a kiss at midnight from a man who makes my knees weak.”

  “Oh, Liv. You’ve got to figure out a way to make it work.”

  “I know. But how?”

  “Any way you can find.”

  “I’ll call you once I’m on a plane.”

  “Love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  Liv tucked her cell phone into her bag and sighed.

  Lord, I haven’t prayed as much in the last five years as I have in the two weeks since I went to church with Jared, but I’m so grateful that you’ve reminded me that you’re still there. I’ve never felt about anyone in my entire life the way I feel about Jared Hunt. Please give me a sign? Tell me what to do.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” the woman announced from the counter at the gate, “we want to thank you for your patience today. We do regret to inform you that Tropical Storm Millicent has been upgraded to a hurricane, expected to make landfall just north of Sarasota over the next six hours. All flights out of Fort Myers have been canceled until further notice.”

  Liv realized that her jaw had dropped, and her mouth was hanging open.

  “Careful,” her grandmother used to say on such occasions. “You’ll catch flies.”

  Liv let the current of people move her down the long corridor, wondering whether she would be able to get a taxi when everyone else in the vicinity had the same idea.

  “What are we going to do?” the woman in front of them asked her husband. “Where will we go? And, Tommy, I have to be back at work tomorrow.”

  “I know, baby. We’ll figure something out.”

  Liv slowed down at the sudden whiff of brewing coffee with the thought of stopping to purchase one for the road, but she almost caused a pedestrian pileup. Skirting a collision with an elderly couple ahead of her, she stepped up the pace.

  Liv jumped when someone touched her shoulder. She twirled around and looked into familiar eyes with a gasp.

  “Need a ride?” Jared asked, and a smile spread across Liv's face as if someone had plugged it in and suddenly flipped a switch.

  17

  “You made the journey to the Enchanted Pond so that you could be refreshed,” Horatio reminded her. “But do you think you might want to stay?”

  “Stay, and leave the meadow behind?” she clarified. “Forever?! Oh, I don’t know about that.”

  “Well, perhaps you’d like to take another day before we set out for home. Just to think it over.”

  “I don’t suppose another day would hurt anything. Just to think it over.”

  The drive back to Sanibel was treacherous in the face of storm-force winds, downpour clusters, and low visibility. Liv belted herself in and then clutched the seatbelt with both hands. Ella Fitzgerald crooned softly from the stereo, but the outside noise was so furious that, at times, Ella fell silent beneath it.

  “I’ll bet Boofer is scared half to death,” Liv commented.

  “We’ll be there soon.”

  “Jared, have you checked on Clayton today?”

  “I have. They said he's resting comfortably and requesting a better television so he can watch some special programming tonight about the next Bucs season.”

  Liv laughed and shook her head. “The man does love his football.”

  “He's a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, through and through,” Jared replied.

  “He could start a memorabilia store over at his house. Do you know he's even got Bucs plates and coffee cups?”

  “The blanket on his bed is a huge Buccaneers logo.”

  “Oh, you’re joking.”

  “I kid you not.”

  “That's classic.”

  Conversation took a fast and certain nosedive as two cars screeched to a stop in front of them, and then swerved around a downed tree in the road. Liv realized she was still holding her breath after Jared had navigated around it and was half a mile down the road.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said. “Have you?”

  “Oh, this isn’t my first hurricane season in Florida. I’ve pretty much seen it all. But you never really get accustomed to it. Every season brings new challenges.”

  “I think I’ll stick to shoveling snow and layering my clothes, thank you very much.”

  “Ah, yes,” Jared replied. “But remember, we’ll get rainstorms, and power outages, but hurricane season doesn’t necessarily mean hurricanes. How many winters do you have with no snow?”

  “None. But ask me how many times I’ve had an alligator at my back door.”

  “That's unusual for most people here in Florida. You’re just some sort of weird magnet,” he chuckled.

  “It's the whole birthday thing. It throws off the balance of nature.”

  Jared grinned, shaking his head. “After the rainy season, the rest of the year here is paradise,” he reminded her. “Blue skies, 70 or 80 degrees, the Gulf breeze.”

  “You sound like the top salesman for Florida tourism.”

  “Yeah? How am I doing? Are you sold yet?”

  Liv cast a quick smile in Jared's direction, and then continued to watch the road ahead of them.

  “Because I could go on, you know. I could tell you about the manatees, the fresh local seafood, maybe regale you with a tale or two about being barefoot on the beach from April through October, breaking a sweat on a bike ride on Christmas Day.”

  “All right, all right,” she said, patting him on the shoulder. “That's enough. I get it.”

  Liv recognized the turn into Josie's neighborhood, and she puffed out a shaky sigh of relief.

  “I’ve got to call Hallie and Josie to let them know that I’ll be staying with Boofer after all.”

  “Will you also call your job?” Jared asked.

  “I don’t think so. It's Saturday. And I might still be able to get a flight home tomorrow.”

  Disappointment cascaded over her even as she spoke the words, and Liv glanced over to see telltale signs of the same emotion on Jared's face.

  “I was kind of hoping you’d be able to stay for the wedding tomorrow.”

  “Will they still have it, with the weather like this?”

  “If I know my son, yes. They’ll just move it indoors.”

  Liv noticed a few houses on the street with light shining from their front windows as Jared turned into Josie's driveway.

  “It looks like we’ve still got power here. Do you want to stay for dinner?” she asked him. “It's just a frozen lasagna Josie left for me.”

  “I can be back within the hour.”

  When the car came to a stop, Liv reached over and squeezed Jared's arm. “Thank you for checking on my flight, and then coming to get me, Jared. I can only imagine how I’d be feeling right now if I was still stuck in the airport, wondering what to do.”

  “Leave your bag,” he told her with a warm smile. “I’ll bring it over when I come.”

  Liv slipped out of the car and slammed the door behind her before she took off running up the front sidewalk. The rain came down in buckets, and by the time she klunked into the house, Liv was
drenched.

  Boofer didn’t even bark at her; she just moseyed toward her and sniffed her leg.

  “Hey, girl. Didn’t expect me back so soon, did you?” she asked as she sat down on the sofa and pulled her cell phone out of her bag. “Me neither,” she continued as she dialed. “It's raining cats and Boofers out there, and my flight got canceled, so you’re stuck with me, at least for tonight. Oh, hi. Hallie? It's Liv.”

  The wind pounded against the walls at the back of the house, and Liv jumped as a large, unidentified item flew across the patio, past the kitchen window, and then thudded against the far wall. She peered outside as water sloshed over the side of the pool and Jared hurried around the patio securing chairs and collecting anything light enough to be carried away with another big gust.

  Liv watched him for a moment more, and then she pulled on lobster claw oven mitts to remove the lasagna from the oven. She set the glass baking dish down on the stovetop and turned around to find Jared standing on the other side of the counter. He exploded with pops of laughter when he saw her there, her lobster claw hands raised in front of her.

  “Only Josie,” he exclaimed, shaking his head. “Who else would buy those?”

  “The lasagna looks like it has spinach and mushrooms and onions,” she told him, peering over the baking dish. “Maybe green peppers. I’m not sure if there's any meat. It might be vegetarian.”

  “It smells great, either way.”

  Liv handed him two plates and an assortment of flatware, which Jared organized on the counter bar while she cut two large squares of lasagna with the edge of a spatula.

  “Water or tea?” Jared asked, standing at the open refrigerator door.

  “Water, please.”

  It couldn’t escape her notice how well they worked together. There was something so natural and easy about the two of them, whether they were putting together a meal or just driving down the street. Liv knew such a comfort level didn’t come by often, and she was reluctant to gamble against it.

  Her conversation with Hallie tripped across her mind as she rounded the counter and climbed atop the barstool next to Jared. Would their relationship remain so fresh and simple over the course of time, especially with a thousand or more miles between them? What was—

  Jared interrupted the progress of her thoughts as he reached over and took her hand in his.

  “How about a quick prayer?” he suggested.

  Liv swallowed around the lump in her throat and nodded. Following Jared's lead, she bowed her head and closed her eyes.

  “Thank you for this delicious meal,” he said. “And for the company you’ve allowed me to keep. Now please help us find a way to keep the momentum going.”

  Liv opened her eyes and turned toward Jared. He was looking back at her, and the smile that curved upward was sweet and meaningful.

  “Amen,” she added with a whisper, and then she returned the smile. Jared squeezed her hand before releasing it.

  Before much of their dinner could be enjoyed, a sudden blast of wind slammed into the side of the house. The clamor of debris accompanied a strange and strident hiss that left them in darkness.

  “Not again!” Liv cried.

  Jared lit several candles on the counter and grinned at her from behind their flickering yellow curtain.

  “Ambiance,” he declared. “Let's enjoy our dinner.”

  Liv wondered if he could possibly be as collected as he appeared in the face of a natural disaster that came in the form of gale-force winds and impending doom! She watched Jared as he poked another forkful of lasagna into his mouth and followed it with several gulps of iced water.

  “What?” he asked when he noticed her focus on him.

  Right on cue, another burst of wind sent something crashing outside, and Liv extended her hand toward the sound, palm upward.

  “That,” she replied. “You’re not worried in the least?”

  “Well, of course, I am,” he told her, despite the fact that his demeanor said otherwise. Jared casually stood up and reached for her plate. “Are you finished?”

  “Mmm hmm.”

  He gathered their plates and walked them to the sink, then he rinsed each of them before setting them down inside the large stainless steel well. He didn’t even flinch when a bouncing klunk-klunk-klunk thumped overhead, across the entire length of the house. Liv, on the other hand, jumped to her feet, her heart pounding, her palms perspiring. Boofer pressed herself against Liv's leg, barking several times at the ceiling as if it had come alive.

  “Too bad we didn’t make some coffee before the lights went out.”

  Coffee?

  “You know, Rand has a battery-operated coffee pot that he used to take on his camping trips. It's on the shelf in the garage. How about I run next door and get it?”

  “No!” she exclaimed, and then she struggled to reel it back in a bit. “I don’t need coffee badly enough for you to go out in this weather.”

  “How about a game of Scrabble?” he suggested, and it dawned on Liv at last that Jared was trying to manage her anxiety level by keeping her focused on anything but the raging storm outside. “I know Josie has a game in the front closet. She's wiped the floor with me a few times.”

  Before Liv could answer, an explosion of shattering glass sent Boofer into a fit of barks and snarls. Jared pressed his hands against both of Liv's shoulders, guiding her toward the barstool.

  “Stay here,” he said, and then he rushed down the hall toward the bedrooms.

  When he didn’t return right away, she took a deep breath and then headed down the hall. Jared was standing in the guest bedroom alongside a scene that was nothing if not surreal: The limb of a tree reached into the room like a bony hand, straight through the broken window. A torn, lacy green curtain waved from one of the branches like a strange wartime flag.

  “I have to pull this out from the other side,” Jared told her. “Then I’ll go over and get something to board up this window.”

  “What can I do?”

  “Give me time to get to the other side, and you can push from this end. First order of business is to get this tree out of the bedroom.” He ran a hand down her arm as he passed, and she wondered whether it was static electricity or just the ever-present heat between the two of them that left her tingling beneath his touch.

  The tree limb rocked inside the frame of the broken window. Finally, Jared called out to her, “Give it a shove.”

  Liv leaned her weight into the intruding branches, and her hands stung from the roughness of the bark as she pushed, but the thing didn’t budge.

  “I hate to ask you to come outside, but if you could pull from this end while I lift, we might have better luck,” he suggested. “It seems to be stuck on the jamb of the window.”

  “On my way.”

  Liv grabbed Josie's neon yellow rain slicker from the closet in the front hall and slipped into it as she ran to the side of the house. The rain pelted her as she sloshed through the mud and, when she reached Jared, he looked a bit like a watercolor portrait left outside to face the elements. Boofer barked at them from inside the house.

  “It's okay, girl,” Liv promised. “Calm down. It's okay.”

  Jared pushed himself into the branches and managed to get a grip on two of them.

  “Pull as hard as you can, on three!” he called, but his words were nearly lost behind the din of the storm. “One … two … three!”

  Liv yanked at the tree with all her might until she finally felt it give. Jared braced both feet against the side of the house and groaned as he lent his strength to her effort. Branches snapped, wind whistled, and time seemed to stop ticking as they yanked and pulled and tugged at the encroaching tree. At last, wood cracked, and the limb broke free. Liv flew backward and slammed to the ground, the enormous arm of the battered sumac tree on top of her.

  “Liv! Are you all right? Are you hurt?” Jared's tone was frantic. No more of the calm and collected storm-dweller with whom she’d shared her dinner.
<
br />   “N-no,” she managed, but it was hard to breathe with the limb pressed to her chest the way it was.

  Jared wedged both hands under the branch and yanked it upward with a grunt, allowing Liv the freedom to wriggle out from underneath it. Once emancipated, she drew her knees upward and hugged them while she struggled to catch her breath.

  Jared crawled toward her through the mud and plopped down beside her. “Are you hurt?”

  She almost didn’t hear him. “No.”

  “You sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  “Let's get you into the house. Then I’ll go next door and get something to board up the window for the night.”

  Jared got to his feet and extended his hand toward her. She took it and let him pull her up.

  The wind fell silent for a moment, eerily so, and then it whipped back into action, nearly stripping the jacket right off of her. But instead of moving back toward the house, Jared turned and faced Liv, taking her face into both of his hands.

  A rush of adrenaline raced through her as Jared engulfed her with those chocolate brown eyes of his. The two of them just stood there beneath the ferocious downpour, anchored to one another, locked into one gaze.

  “I love you, Liv.”

  It doesn’t just happen in books. Hearts really can skip a beat!

  “I love you too,” she wheezed over the commotion of the storm, but she wasn’t sure he heard her. So she repeated it, this time with a shout. “I love you TOO!”

  Jared exploded with laughter, and then he pulled her into an embrace, rocking her back and forth in his arms.

  “Don’t go, Liv,” he said into her ear. “Don’t go back to Ohio tomorrow.”

  She pulled back, but only far enough to look into his eyes.

  “At least stay for Rand's wedding. We’ll figure something out from there.”

  “Oh, Jared. I—”

  “Shhh.” He placed a finger over her lips, and she kissed it. “Just say you’ll stay, just one more day.”

  Liv felt as if she had no control over her reply. Her job at Providence Hospital, her retirement fund, the too-big house on the hill beside Hallie's, even the pelting rain that drenched her to the core now—it all slipped away, mere dust, blown away by the raging winds around them. In that one piercing and wonderful moment, nothing mattered aside from those three exquisite words they had just exchanged.